Gender pay and statistical fraudsThe “war on women” political slogan is in fact a war against common sense. It is a statistical fraud when Barack Obama and other politicians say that women earn only 77 percent of what men earn — and that this is because of discrimination. It would certainly be discrimination if women were doing the same work as men, for the same number of hours, with the same amount of training and experience, as well as other things being the same. But study...

Ask not what your cat can do for youA big-selling book, “Cat Sense: How the New Feline Science Can Make You a Better Friend to Your Pet,” helps cat lovers understand what is going on in the hearts and brains of their kitties. Sadly, not nearly so much as they thought and hoped. I’m pretty sure what my former cat was thinking: “What’s the least I can possibly do and still get her to feed me liver patties and otherwise leave me alone?” I’m not far off, author John Bradshaw seems t...

Letter to the editor (April 16, 2014)Senior interaction encouraged I recently experienced, as an observer, a heart-warming and, I think, a very healthy situation at our senior center. I refer to the visit and interaction with our seniors by a group of local high school students. Being an oriental and one who has traveled widely, I was reminded of the all too frequent practice of division between the young and the elders of American society. In my homeland, the elderly are venerat...

Help wanted for 400 jobs — and moreWhat would happen if an out-of-state employer was prepared to build a factory in Arkansas and pay 500 people a starting salary of $50,000 a year — but was having trouble finding the employees? The state of Arkansas and the local community would pull out all the stops for that $25 million annual payroll. After ensuring the industrial park had adequate water, wastewater and electrical connections, there might be an offer of state-financed employ...

Letter to the editor (April 16, 2014)Water fluoridation I have to disagree with my old friend, Dr. Sandra Young, about water system fluoridation. The fluoridation of public water has been hailed by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) as one of the top medical achievements of the 20th century. It is ranked No. 9 on this list, ahead of “Recognition of tobacco use as a health hazard.” Every major health organization in the world, including the American Medical Association (AM...

State Supreme Court to feature female majorityPolitical primaries in Arkansas have become somewhat ho-hum, now that we have a 2-party system. Most of the interesting races will be in November. Nevertheless, one historic change will take place on May 20, which is also when the state’s judicial elections will be held. The Arkansas Supreme Court will have a female majority for the first time. The high court already has three female justices out of seven, and Karen Baker is unopposed for re-e...

Appeal puts new focus on social issuesLITTLE ROCK — Attorney General Dustin McDaniel’s decision to appeal a ruling striking down Arkansas’ 12-week abortion ban isn’t just giving hope to conservative activists who want to preserve one of the strictest abortion laws in the country. It also could inject a new focus on abortion and other social issues into dozens of statewide and legislative races that had been focused more on health care, taxes and other matters. McDaniel announced l...

‘God’ sues credit rating agencyA New York City man claimed a credit reporting agency falsely reported he had no financial history because his first name is God. According to the New York Post, God Gazarov of Brooklyn stated in a lawsuit Equifax refused to correct its system to recognize his name as legitimate. He stated an Equifax customer service representative even suggested he change his name to resolve the issue. Gazarov, 26, is a Russian native who is named after his g...

Some sci-fi suggestionsThere are typically two responses to a stroll through the science-fiction section of a book store or DVD retailer: you’ll either cringe your way past the stereotypical covers or you’ll stop, take your time, find the diamond in the rough and embark on a journey through speculative, futuristic fiction. Here are my favorite books and movies that can broadly be classified within the genre. ‘Firefly’ “Firefly” aired on Fox in 2002, but was unceremo...

Rewarding state’s educational excellenceAs part of our ongoing quest to improve educational outcomes, the state of Arkansas now provides financial awards to public schools for academic achievement, academic growth and high graduation rates. This motivational approach is called the Arkansas School Recognition and Reward Program. It allows the top 20 percent of our schools to receive financial incentives to be used for improving and maintaining intellectual performance. This unique pr...

Letter to the editor (April 12, 2014)Fluoride toxicity In 2011, the Arkansas Legislature passed a law requiring water companies that serviced 5,000 or more to put fluoride in the water. Our water is fluoridated (at considerable expense, I might add). This was supposed to lessen the number of cavities in children. However, fluoride works by topical application, not by ingestion. An article was just published in the highly respected Journal Lancet Neurology March 2014 in which medi...

Letter to the editor (April 12, 2014)Neighborhood market As a youngster, growing up in the Chicago suburbs, I often visited a friend who lived in Rogers Park. We would frequent his neighborhood market. It was owned by an Italian gentleman, named Giovianni. He was about 60, with white thinning hair, about 5’5” and 130 pounds. Everybody was his “goomba.” He had a grocery store with about 1,800 square feet. He displayed his produce on the sidewalk in front of the store. He cut his o...

The color of GeorgiaMy father, Newt Gingrich, ran for congress in rural, west, middle Georgia in 1974. At the time, Georgia was dominated by the Democratic Party, there were few Republicans in the state and Watergate was in full swing. Somehow, against this headwind, he managed to garner 49 percent of the vote. He never stopped running, waking up the day after the election to shake hands at the Ford Factory as their shift changed. In spring of 1976, when former G...

A look inside a dog’s lifeLate last summer I got the text I dreaded. “On the way to get a dog” is what my wife’s message read. My response was, “what?!” She tried her best with little smiley faces and winking abbreviates. But she knew I wasn’t thrilled we hadn’t talked about it more. Or had we? I’m not a big pet lover. There, I said it. Let the e-mails come, I can handle it. Even with that confession, I will tell you my family has as many cats as people in the house. I...

The beauty of distilled wisdomThere is a wonderful verse in the Bible found in Proverbs 9:10 that says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One, is understanding.” The person who truly understands and applies this verse to life’s challenges is indeed wise, and this knowledge can serve as the foundation for a truly happy and successful life. One of the qualities that most often distinguish the person who is wise is the way he uses...

Keeping conservatives focusedImagine a situation in which there is an earthquake that destroys a suspension bridge over a deep canyon. A passenger train is speeding toward the location, and those in charge realize there is a potential problem ahead but choose instead to argue about the ambient temperature in the passenger cars, the food service and whether they will reach their final destination on time. A few people are quite disturbed when they learn of the tragedy abou...

Let there be light on health spendingFoes of Obamacare often frame such health reforms as “redistribution” schemes. They take money from hardworking Americans and give it to the presumably undeserving. My conservative friends are right that a lot of health reform is about redistribution. What they get wrong are the arrows on the real redistribution chart. Health care reform is beginning to divert the money, all right, but from the medical-industrial complex back to the pockets of...

Pryor faces headwinds despite leadIs Sen. Mark Pryor really ahead in the U.S. Senate race? That’s the finding of a new Talk Business-Hendrix College Poll, which says that Pryor leads his opponent, U.S. Rep. Tom Cotton, 45.5 percent to 42.5 percent. The race hasn’t moved much in that poll since October 2013, when Pryor led, 42-41 percent. To win, the campaigns and their allies will be focusing their efforts in two areas. One is motivating the base to turn out to vote, and the o...

A halo for selfishnessThe recent Supreme Court decision over-ruling some Federal Election Commission restrictions on political campaign contributions has provoked angry reactions on the left. That is what often happens whenever the High Court rules that the First Amendment means what it says — free speech for everybody. When the Supreme Court declared in 2010 that both unions and corporations had a right to buy political ads, that was considered outrageous by the l...

Wage proposal could have coattailsLITTLE ROCK — When Arkansas last raised the state’s minimum wage, it was pitched to lawmakers as an alternative to a wage hike that supporters had hoped to put on the ballot. Eight years later, a new proposal is being touted as an alternative to the increase being weighed in Washington. With three months to go before they need to turn in signatures in a bid to qualify for the November ballot, supporters of a minimum wage increase in Arkansas s...